Sydney Sweeney in ‘a lot of pain’ when drenched in fake blood for ‘Immaculate’ — here’s why
Bloody hell!
Michael Mohan, who directed Neon’s upcoming horror film “Immaculate,” revealed that leading lady Sydney Sweeney accidentally got fake blood in her eyes while filming one of the most gruesome scenes.
“We wanted to do everything practically,” Mohan told IndieWire, revealing that the incident took place on the final day on set.
“The biggest challenge was on the last take,” the director told the outlet. “Sydney got blood, fake blood, in her eye, and it was stinging her, but we hadn’t nailed the take, and she was actually in quite a lot of pain.”
“But she’s my boss, and she was like, ‘Keep shooting, Mike. Keep shooting until you f – – king get this,’ ” he continued. “We didn’t reset or anything. We kept the camera rolling, and I think it was the third take where we finally got the perfect take […] but the pain in her voice was because she’d gotten fake blood in her eye.”
In the film — which premiered at the SXSW film festival and is set to hit theaters on Friday — Sweeney, 26, plays Sister Cecilia. She joins a Roman convent but is ultimately tested when it is revealed that she has been chosen to become the vessel for the next immaculate conception against her will.
According to Mohan, shooting the scene with fake blood — which is typically concocted from corn syrup, red food coloring and sometimes cocoa powder — was the “hardest” part of making the film for both the “Euphoria” star and the director.
“But it was harder for her than it was for me,” he added.
Sweeney and Mohan previously worked together on Amazon Prime’s 2021 erotic thriller “The Voyeurs.”
“She can go to these really unhinged places, and so to be able to combine all the things she’s so strong [with], she’s just so versatile,” gushed Mohan over the “Anyone But You” star’s performance. “It was so great to have a character arc that really shows the full breadth of her acting capabilities.”
“Oftentimes with Syd, it’s like we don’t even have to speak to each other,” Mohan went on. “We just sort of look at each other, and we both know what the next take, what the first take didn’t accomplish, and what the next take needs to be. And that makes it really easy.”
Sweeney posted an Instagram Story video of herself drenched head to toe in blood while banging on a car window.
“Get excited @immaculatemovie is in theaters March 22nd,” the caption read on Saturday.
The “Madame Web” star’s clip sparked mixed opinions.
“Mocking God isn’t cute or funny,” one user wrote, with another asked if the commenter was “new to the genre of religious horror.”
“Do you know what is worse? The producers carefully chose the release date, Eve of the Holy Week,” slammed a second person. “For the Roman Catholic Church, this is the most important time of the year!”
Others appeared excited for Sweeney’s next project.
“Slide 2 is my sleep paralysis demon,” laughed Sweeney’s “White Lotus” and “Euphoria” co-star Lukas Gage.
“Fans aren’t ready for this one,” commented a fourth user.
The horror film will be Sweeney’s first sole producing credit after having co-produced “Anyone But You” with fiancé Jonathan Davino.
